Shoe or boot stretcher.



F. G. PABST.

SHOE 0R BOOT STRETCHER.

(Application med Aug. 14, 1900.) (No Model.)

No. 674,013. Patented May I4, |90I.

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRIEDRICH GUSTAV PABST, OF HAMBURG, GERMANY.

SHOE on BooT sTREToI-IER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,013, dated May 14, 1901.

Application filed August 14:, 1900. Serial No. 26,862. (No model.)

To LZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRIEDRICH GUsTAv PABST, a subject of the German Emperor, and a resident of Hamburg, in the German Empire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe or Boot Stretchers, of which the following is a specilication.

The present invention relates to improvements in shoe or boot stretchers, especially of that class in Which a portion of a shoe or boot stretcher is arranged to Iill out the toe part of the shoe or boot, while the rear portion, in the form of a lever mechanism, acts against the heel portion and produces. the pressure, and which class of stretchers I have described in the specifications of my former United States patents, Nos. 600,678, 619,835, and 653,778.

The object of the present improvements is to provide means whereby the shoe or boot stretcher after being placed into the shoe or boot is more readily and properly adjusted to the length of the said shoe or boot. I attain this object by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a sectional side elevation of the improved shoe-stretcher in its working or active position when inserted into a shoe or the like. Fig. 2 is a top view or plan of the said stretcher. Fig. 3 is a sectional side view showing how the stretcher may be folded together when not in use for storing, transport, and the like.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

My improved shoe or boot stretcher cornprises a hollow shell-like toe-piece a, open at its bottom and rear end, and a heel-piece CZ, adj ustably connected thereto by means of a screw-rod b. This screw-rod works in a nut c, mounted in the rear portion of the toepiece on a journal r and set-screw Zt. In the heel-piece d is formed a longitudinal passage Z, in which is rotatably mounted a spindle g, on the outer end of which is a handle h and on the inner end a bevel-gear f. The passage Z communicates at its inner end with a recess Z', which is closed on one side by a plateZZ. A stub-shaft m is rotatably mounted in the recess Z', at right angles to the spindle g, in bearings formed in the rear portion of the heel-piece and the plate Z2, and on this shaft is a bevel-gear e, which gears with the bevel gearfon the spindle. A hinge connection Z unites the stub-shaft with the screw-rod Z) for the purpose of permitting the heel-piece to be folded under the toe-piece.

The improved stretcher may be used in the following` manner: Having first roughly adjusted the screw-rod b to the length of the shoe, the last or toe portion d is placed into the toe part of such shoe and the heel portion CZ is then moved from the dotted posiiion,Fig. l, into that against the heel portion. The spindle C, by means of its handle Zz, is then rotated, which rotation by Ineans of the bevelgear f e is transmitted to the shaft m and screw-rod b, connected therewith, in order to unscrew the latter from its nut c, thereby forcing the fore portion d forward, and so stretching the top leather or uppers of the shoe to the desired degree in order to give it the appearance of being new, but Without Widening it.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A shoe or boot stretcher comprising a shelllike toe portion Ct open at its .bottom and at its rear end, a nut c mounted in the sides of said toe part near the rear end on a journal 1" and set-screw Zt, a heel portion d adapted to fold into the toe portion and provided with a longitudinally-arranged passage Z which communicates at its inner end with a recess Z' located in the base of said heel portion, a bearing-plate Z2 closing ysaid recess, a spindle g rotatably mounted in the passage and extending into the recess, a handle h on the outer end of said spindle, a bevel-gear f on its inner end within said recess, a stub-shaft m rotatably mounted in said recess at right angles to the spindle in bearings formed in the rear portion of the heel-piece and the plate Z2, a bevel-gear e on said shaft in gear with the one on the spindle and a screw-rod Z9 hinged to said shaft and working in the afore* said nut in the toe portion, for the purpose specified.

FRIEDRICH GUSTAV PABST.

Witnesses:

, MAX LEMCKE, E. H. L. MUMMENHOFE. 

